


Loyalty

by KieraElieson



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Dragon!Janus, Dragons, Fantasy AU, Gen, Tags to be added, Wizard!Logan, dragon!virgil
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-03
Updated: 2020-07-14
Packaged: 2021-03-04 23:48:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,016
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25044895
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KieraElieson/pseuds/KieraElieson
Summary: Logan is the king’s wizard, sent on a task. Patton is determined not to let him complete that task.Built 100 words at a time on tumblr and influenced by asks!
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders & Deceit | Janus Sanders, Logic | Logan Sanders & Morality | Patton Sanders
Comments: 20
Kudos: 51





	1. Chapter 1

“The dragon is somewhere in these woods,” Logan said, tugging Patton along. “If you’ll just cooperate I can return you home sooner.”

Patton looked like he was ready to graduate from pouting to glaring, still trying to subtly untie the rope from around his wrists. “You know, you really—“

“Patton.” Logan said warningly. “If you say again that I don’t have to do this without actually suggesting an alternative I swear I will put a gag over your mouth.”

Patton’s mouth shut, the perpetual pout returning. 

Logan sighed heavily. This was decidedly  _ not  _ how he’d hoped his life would turn out. 

And then he felt it, the prickle across his skin warning of danger. He yanked Patton down and dropped to the ground, just in time for a plume of flame to go over their heads. 

There was a soft ‘no’ from Patton, even as Logan conjured a magical shield over them. Logan felt a rush of annoyance at realizing that he didn’t really need Patton after all. And then he realized he had no idea where the flame had come from. He could see through his shield, and there wasn’t a single sign of a dragon anywhere. 

“Patton, where is it?”

Patton shook his head firmly. 

“Where is it!?” Logan yelled, knowing he couldn’t just lay there under the shield forever, and the longer he did the more he opened himself to attack. 

Patton just shook his head, his mouth tightly shut. 

Logan searched the sky, but other than trees he saw nothing. 

“Wait. Why wouldn’t you answer me?”

Patton’s eyes went wide, and his lips pressed into a thin line. Logan grabbed his shoulders. “Why aren’t you speaking now?”

Patton’s expression grew more determined, and he shoved at Logan. 

Logan just let go, trying to think of what it could possibly mean.

Patton hadn’t stopped talking hardly at all when they started, and his growing silences Logan had taken for granted, hoping he was just tiring himself out. But clearly that wasn’t the reason. How could it possibly help Patton to be quiet? Or how could it help the dragon?

There was a connection. Another connection. One he didn’t know. 

A brief thought flickered across his brain, that no matter how determined not to speak, he could make him scream, but Logan shoved the idea away. He refused to follow those lines of thinking. 

Another stream of fire covered the shield, blocking Logan’s view entirely. But this time he had a direction. As soon as the fire stopped he dropped the shield. 

“Do you want to hit Patton?!” He yelled. “Keep blowing fire and me and you’ll hit him.”

A growl came from a different direction than the fire had, and Patton let out another tiny ‘no’.

Logan grabbed Patton and pulled his dagger out, holding it over his throat. “Show yourself! Now!”

“He isn’t going to do it!” Patton burst out, before clapping his hands over his mouth and starting to tremble. 

A rumbling growl echoed through the forest. Logan closed his eyes, since obviously they weren’t helping him with this, and tried to pinpoint which direction the sound was coming from. 

Once he had a guess, he lifted a hand in that direction, shooting a quick bolt of magic. It wasn’t much, probably wouldn’t hurt the dragon at all, but he would be able to see if it hit anything. 

The growl grew angrier, especially as he let loose several more small blasts. 

“Patton, where is it? If you don’t tell me, eventually it will get annoyed enough to try and get us both.”

Patton shook his head again, but carefully as the knife was still close to his throat. 

Logan fired several more of the magic flares, getting more angry as they didn’t hit anything. 

No. He needed not to be angry. He would not let his emotions get the better of him. He was a wizard. And wizards were controlled. They did not have strong emotions. He took a deep breath in, closing his eyes again, and trying to attune all his senses to finding the dragon. 

He waited until he felt a slight something from behind him, and quickly raised his hand and fired a bolt. 

He was rewarded with an indignant squawk, and then a roar. 

“No, don’t!” Patton suddenly yelled. “I’m almost sure he heard me, you have to go stop him before he gets here! I’ll be fine, don’t worry. Just find somewhere to hide for a little bit, and make sure you keep him away!”

There was a low, angry rumble, and then the unmistakable sound of wingbeats. 

Logan shoved down the surge of anger and put his dagger away before he could do something rash. He’d known Patton was opposed to this, had known he would only be helpful when forced to be. But having his last week’s efforts wasted all at once was beyond frustrating. 

He stalked away from Patton, struggling to get himself under control. He didn’t want to hurt him, and he didn’t want to yell at him.  _ Patton is just a third party _ , Logan reminded himself.  _ I pulled him into this against his will, of course he would try to stop me. It is a reasonable response.  _

But suddenly something extremely heavy struck him in the back, and pinned him to the ground. A low growl and heat on the back of his neck made it clear what it was. 

“I told you to leave!” Patton yelled. “He could get here any minute, and you  _ know  _ how bad that would be!”

The dragon let out a strange sound, somehow conveying both that it knew it was being reprimanded, and it was determined to remain on top of Logan. 

One hand was free, the other being awkwardly twisted beneath him, and Logan tried to think of what he could do that would incapacitate the dragon in one shot. 

But suddenly there was a loud squeak, and the dragon roared. There was an answering whine, and that sound could come from nothing but a baby dragon. 

Logan’s heart sank. A dragon, causing problems to the king, that he could deal with. He could even turn a blind eye to his own actions and smooth it over with excuses of ‘danger’ and ‘harm to the people’. But a baby? A baby dragon had done nothing. 

But he was held to his word. 

The little dragon toddled towards Patton, letting out happy squeaks. It was so very small, coming up a little higher than his knees, and a rare shade of purple. Logan wished he hadn’t looked at it. It just made it harder to do what he had to. 

As his heart grew heavier, small dark blue motes appeared, flickering one by one into existence. Logan wouldn’t have noticed them, too caught up in his own mind, if not for the threatening growl and blast of heat. 

“Hey, wait!” Patton said. He had finally managed to undo the knot, and stuffed the rope into his pocket as he ran over and put a hand on the dragon. 

Logan couldn’t see much, trapped laying on his stomach, but mottled black and yellow came into view above him. The dragon rumbled in a softer way, but the weight on Logan’s back increased, making it difficult to breathe. 

Patton crouched by Logan. “Ease up just a bit please,” he asked the dragon, and the weight lessened. 

“Logan, I want you to give me your word you won’t hurt them.”

“You know I can’t do that,” Logan said, wishing it wasn’t true. 

“Then a week. Give me your word you won’t hurt them for a week.”

Logan didn’t see another way out. It wasn’t likely that he’d be able to incapacitate the dragon in one shot, and in this position, he’d be dead before he got a second shot. “You have my word.”

Patton smiled, and then smiled more as the baby dragon reached him and nosed at his arms, letting out more little squeaks. 

“Oh, you’re such a sweet, fearsome baby,” he cooed at the dragon. “And you’ve gotten bigger, haven’t you?”

The baby made a rumbling sound, and climbed up onto Patton, little wings flapping for balance. 

The bigger dragon grumbled, and Patton looked up at it. “It’ll be fine now, he can’t do anything for a week.”

The dragon got off of Logan, but also shoved him away from Patton and the baby. 

What was he supposed to do now? He couldn’t do anything for a week, and by then the dragons would be long gone. He couldn’t go back home until he’d ‘dealt with the problem’. And while he knew the king intended for him to kill the dragon, dragons, he’d been hoping to have enough of an advantage of surprise to find some way to keep them grounded and remove their ability to breathe fire. He’d hoped that the dragon, thus hobbled, would hide away and the king wouldn’t know any better. 

But now there was almost no chance of succeeding with a plan like that. 

Again he didn’t notice the blue motes until the dragon grumbled angrily. 

“It’s ok,” Patton said quickly. “Logan, can you not do the magic right now?”

Logan nodded, clenching his jaw and ridding his mind of the extraneous worries. They weren’t logical anyway, wouldn’t help him. 

Patton smiled, as if there had never been any problems, and continued petting the baby dragon in his arms. 

The baby seemed to only then notice Logan, and squirmed out of Patton’s arms. 

The larger dragon let out a warning growl, and the tiny one flattened to the ground, making a long squeak in protest. 

“Oh, baby, it’s ok,” Patton said, trying to coax the little dragon into his arms again. “Daddy’s just trying to keep you safe.”

“Based on coloring and build, it is impossible for the two dragons to be related,” Logan said. 

Both Patton and the larger dragon seemed to have the same disapproving expression. “They are too!” Patton insisted. “Janus is Virgil’s dad, and nothing you say can change that, and… I wasn’t supposed to use names… sorry.”

“How would they even have names?” Logan asked. “They cannot speak.”

Patton just frowned at him and didn’t answer. 

Virgil butted his head under Patton’s chin and squeaked at him, which resulted in a truly embarrassing display of affection, where Patton cooed at the baby dragon, and kissed all over his head, and Virgil squeaked in a way that sounded like the dragon equivalent of giggling. 

Any move Logan made, even just shifting his position, got him a glare from Janus. Patton, on the other hand, was the recipient of many soft looks, and a few nudges. 

It wasn’t long before it was very plain that Janus was trying to subtly get Patton and Virgil to stand on the other side of him, away from Logan. 

After playing with Virgil a while longer Patton sighed. 

“Well, I guess I’ll have to take Logan back to the village now. I’ll come back and see you guys as soon as I can though!”

Janus let out a soft rumble, but Virgil started pitifully keening and clinging to Patton. 

Janus grabbed Virgil and pulled him away, holding him close, despite his thrashing and crying. 

Logan was surprised when Patton started sniffing as they walked away. 

“It’s just so hard to leave when he cries for me like that!” Patton said quietly. “He’s such a sweetheart and I wish I could visit more often.”


	2. Patton’s POV

Logan was staying in the inn Patton worked at, and Patton almost couldn’t handle the gossip anymore. 

_ ‘It’s the wizard Logan!’ ‘Since he’s here, does that mean the king is coming?’ ‘What do you think he’s here for?’ ‘So you think he’s come to take a wife?’ ‘Or maybe he’s come to help the dragons.’ ‘Idiot, the king hates our dragons.’  _

Patton tried to block it all out, but it was everywhere! And people kept asking him questions too, since he was the one Logan dragged away to help him. 

Patton went into the kitchen and set down the huge basket of bread he’d gotten from the baker. 

“Oh, thank you, Patton, you’re right on time. Grab one of those rolls and take this stew up to the wizard Logan.”

“Yes, ma’am!” Patton said brightly, even though he’d rather not. 

Every time he went up to Logan’s room he had to see what Logan was doing, and wonder if it was going to be used to hurt Janus and Virgil. And then everyone would ask him what Logan was doing too. 

He knocked on the door. 

“Come in.”

Patton’s heart sank down to his toes as he saw Logan polishing a dagger with something that glimmered magic. “I… brought food.”

“Thank you. You can set it down, I’ll be fine.”

“You….” Patton paused for a long time. “You’re still going to try to hurt them?”

Logan looked up at him over his glasses. “Unless you’ve thought of an alternative.”

Patton frowned. “But I don’t even know half of the rules! You just kept saying no, no, no, without telling me why!”

“I realize that most people trust you, Patton, and this may come as a bit of a shock, but I do not know you. I do not trust you with my life’s story. You are still welcome to suggest alternate solutions with the information you have already been given.”

Patton frowned. “If I come up with something, do you promise you won’t try to hurt them?”

Logan looked up again, his eyes sharp. “I do not promise anything if I don’t have to.”

Patton sighed, but nodded. “Yeah, ok. Well, I’ll come up with something!”

Logan nodded absently, still bent over the dagger. “I’ll look forward to the day that you do.”

Patton left the room, frowning in concentration. 

“He has to obey the king, and the king said to get rid of the dragons,” Patton said under his breath. “But he doesn’t have a time limit, he just can’t go back until it’s done or the king calls him back.” 

Patton was concentrating so hard he nearly ran into the wall instead of going out the inn door. 

“He’ll probably be in a lot of trouble if he just stalls,” Patton mused. “And I  _ think _ he wants to go back home soon.”

Patton kept walking, trying very intently to think, and when he stopped for a break he found himself halfway up the mountain. “Oh! Oh, no I didn’t mean to come up here.”

And then he clapped a hand over his voice. Virgil had  _ very  _ good hearing, and probably was already headed his way. He’d been awfully lucky, leading Logan on a whole lot of detours and making a hike of a few hours take several days, but if Logan has seen him leave, and followed him, he’d know how very close the dragons were to the village. 

And then there was a happy squeak, and Patton had a double armful of baby dragon. 

“Ohh, sweetheart, I’m happy to see you too!” Patton cooed as Virgil rubbed his face on his. 

Thankfully, Virgil’s baby scales weren’t sharp and hard yet, so it didn’t hurt, even if he was just a bit too rough. 

There was a distant sound of wingbeats, and Virgil let out a long, piteous squeak. 

“Were you supposed to stay at home, Virgey?” Patton asked. 

Virgil looked at him with the very best puppy eyes Patton had ever seen as he squeaked again, pleading for Patton to shield him from Janus. 

“If you left home without asking, there’s not much I can do, sweet pea.”

Virgil somehow managed to get even cuter as he pleaded, and as Janus landed near them he hid his face in Patton’s chest. 

“Sorry, Jan, I was too loud and he heard me.”

Janus let out a rumble that Patton knew well, the ‘it's all Virgil’s fault, cause he was the one who was supposed to stay home’ rumble. 

Virgil let out a pitiful whine. Patton smiled and shook his head. For all Virgil cried about it, the worst that would happen is that Janus would physically hold him in their cave. 

Still Virgil squirmed in his arms, as if he was trying to burrow into his chest, whining the whole time. 

Janus leaned his head down, and Patton carefully lifted the squirmy baby so he could hand him off to Janus. The piteous cries turned angry as Virgil fought against being taken back home. 

“Can I come with you guys for tonight?” Patton asked. 

Janus gave a short rumble and tilt of his head toward the village. 

Patton chuckled, a bit embarrassed. “Well, I already kinda just left, so it wouldn’t be much worse if I stayed away the rest of the day.”

Janus nodded, and dipped his head down low enough that Patton could climb onto his neck and hold tightly to his scales. 

The rush of going up into the air was always a bit scary, and very exciting, and Patton hunkered over Janus’s neck, holding on for dear life until they landed. 

The cave was truly massive. The opening was only just big enough for Janus to crawl through, but once inside it was the largest place Patton had ever seen in his life, and there was gold and treasure glittering on almost every surface. 

Most of the gold Janus said that he’d dug or made himself. (And Patton had never pressed to know how exactly one would  _ make  _ gold) And it was reddish, streaked and speckled in very interesting patterns. Janus had told him that the gold, and especially its imperfections, were very important to the health of a young dragon. 

In the middle of the cave Janus dropped Virgil into a little basin. The gold in there was squishy, almost molten looking, and very warm, too warm for Patton to touch for more than half a second, but not nearly as hot as he would’ve thought it needed to be to be as soft as it was. 

Virgil squeaked and scrambled, but the basin was hard for him to get out of with as small as he was, and Janus kept knocking him back inside, where he’d tumble down in a cute little ball and make these adorable little baby growls and roars. 

“You’re such an angry boy, aren’t you, Virge?” Patton said, more than a little teasing. He was still seated at the base of Janus’s neck, rubbing his hands around his scales. Janus liked it a lot, which was proved by the very soft rumbling he always made when Patton did it. 

It was just calm and relaxing, and even if they couldn’t talk, Patton could feel the love coming from Janus and Virgil, and hoped that they could feel just as much love from him! 

He just had to think now about how to stop Logan. He didn’t know for sure that Logan would win, but more than anything he just wanted them not to fight. 

“Do you think you could fly away and just stay away for a while? Until Logan leaves?” Patton asked. 

Janus let out a long, heavy grumble. And the more Patton thought about it, the less he liked the idea. They’d have to leave their home, and go somewhere where it would be cold and strange. And maybe Logan would follow them still. Or maybe he’d just stay in the village till they came back. Or they could go somewhere that people hated dragons, and then they’d get hurt there too. 

Patton patted Janus’s scales gently. “I don’t know what to do.”

Janus rumbled, turning his head to look at Patton, and Patton got the message.  _ You don’t have to do anything.  _ But he still felt like he did!

Patton just kept petting Janus’s scales, and thinking, and gradually a frown grew on his face. 

Suddenly, Janus was picking him up, and setting him on the floor. 

“Janus? What’s going on?” Patton asked, trying to stand up, but Janus just pushed him gently back down. 

Virgil finally scrambled out, and went right for Patton. He growled and head butted him in the chest, similar to how Janus had, but with a lot more energy, and less force, since he was so little. 

Patton let out a giggle as he realized that they were now wrestling. 

He’d never once  _ won  _ a wrestle against Janus, but with how much fun he had, he didn’t feel like he ever really lost either. 

Patton stood back, or tried to, as Janus bowled him right back over. He giggled as Virgil climbed onto him and growled in his face in a way that would’ve been intimidating if he wasn’t so small and cute. 

Patton just picked him up and tossed him. Virgil squawked indignantly as he flapped his little baby wings and landed in a heap. 

Patton tried again sitting up, but Janus just pushed him down and blew warm air in his face, which made him giggle again and shove hard against Janus’s big face, with no luck. 

Janus growled playfully, and his face was all soft in a dragon-smile. 

Patton tried squirming away, but Janus rested his whole head on top of him. 

“Jaaanus!” Patton giggled. “I can’t move!”

Janus huffed, and moved his head, nudging Patton until he got up, only to knock him over again. 

Virgil grabbed onto his pants leg, tugging and growling. It was going to leave little teeth holes, but Patton didn’t mind. 

“Agh! You’ve caught me, Virgil!”

Virgil let out a happy squeak, still holding tight to Patton’s pants leg. 

Patton went limp on the ground, trying to hold back his smile. “I’ve been defeated by the mighty and fearsome Virgil.” He closed his eyes, letting his head loll to the side. 

It was only a few seconds before Virgil was letting out worried little chirps and nosing at Patton’s face. 

Patton opened his eyes and smiled again. “Aw, I’m alright, sweetheart.”

Virgil wriggled into his arms, still bopping his little snout on Patton’s face. 

Janus let out the dragon version of an ‘awww’, a long crooning type of noise, and Patton felt like he was just filled to bursting with love for the two of them. 

Patton just didn’t understand how Logan could stand the thought of hurting them. He just didn’t. Just considering it again made him sad, and before he knew it the dragons had picked up on it, Virgil in particular chirping sympathetically at him. 

“Oh, I’m sorry, Virgil. I went and made it sad during playtime.”

Janus snorted, a clear reprimand. 

Patton tried to chuckle, but just teared up. “I’m just… I just don’t get it! What does the king have against you anyway?!”

Patton could see that Janus did have an answer, it was just too complicated for growls and rumbles and facial expressions, and so instead he just pushed his nose into Patton’s belly, rocking him back and forth in a way that usually made Patton laugh. But not this time. 

“I’m gonna find a way to keep you safe. I don’t know how, but I’ll find it.” Patton promised, scratching underneath Virgil’s chin. Virgil made a happy warbling sound, which was very cute, and just made Patton more determined to protect him. 

Patton ended up staying with them all night, which they all enjoyed, though it was a bit dampened by dismal, difficult thoughts. 

“I have to figure something out!” Patton said to himself. “It doesn’t have to help get Logan out of this, but at least getting Janus and Virgil away. But I want to help Logan too. I don’t think he does want to do the job he’s doing, he just needs a way out.”

Just then Virgil let out an adorable little baby snore, and distracted Patton entirely from thinking of solutions. 

And by the time he got back to thinking of it, just before he fell asleep, a new idea had formed. “If it’s the king that doesn’t like them, I’ll just have to talk to the king.”


End file.
